The answer has something to do with the surge in lobbying activity from Swiss biotech firm Syngenta, during which they created campaign funding relationships with almost every high-ranking agricultural official in Congress.

From 2000 to 2010, Syngenta spent a remarkable $15.4 million on campaign contributions through its PAC and both direct and third party lobbying activities.

Syngenta was created out of divisions sold off by Novartis and Astra Zeneca

The two pharmaceutical giants sold off their agribusiness divisions, which then merged into Syngenta, incorporating in Switzerland during the year 2000.

By taking on the assets and productions of both companies, Syngenta was an immediate corporate colossus in the "Crop Protection" industry. It is now the world's leading corporate producer of pesticides and other agricultural chemicals.

In December of 2000, Syngenta filed papers to create Syngenta PAC

With a primary $5,000 donation from Astra-Zeneca's PAC, "Syngenta PAC" was formed in Delaware, a tax-shelter state.

The creation of a political action committee provided Syngenta with a legally sanctioned financial mechanism inside the U.S. through which to funnel corporate money and distribute it as campaign contributions.

In 2000, Syngenta made no donations to any candidates but, as Paul Minehart, a spokesman for Syngenta confirms, the company was in the beginning stages of developing the enzyme that would become Enogen.

Syngenta PAC's political spending during the 2004 election year totaled $1.68 million

In addition to the $1.56 million it spent on lobbying, Syngenta gave to 35 House and 7 Senate race, expending $647,000 in total to the campaigns of both Democrats and Republicans in Congress.

An analysis of their targeted giving however, shows a focus on incumbent Republicans in key agricultural states.

In that vein of spending, 2004 marked the first election cycle that Syngenta made its first PAC to PAC contribution to an organization called CropLife America that represents the interests of the crop protection industry on Capitol Hill.

CropLife gave money through their PAC to many of the same candidates chosen by Syngenta in 2004, a trend that has continued during every election since.

In its 2006 Annual Report, Syngenta announced the development of an "amylase trait for corn"

That enzyme would become Enogen.

The announcement was likely welcome news to Syngenta stockholders who could foresee a raise in their share prices if the company could effectively enter the natural energies market with a breakthrough product.

Syngenta's accumulated investment in Enogen's research and development was still accruing as they began to roll out plans for a product that would clearly need regulatory approval from United States regulatory agencies to realize revenues and justify the company's long term investment.

In its previous five years of lobbying activity, Syngenta had only taken direct lobbying action on three other bills combined.

Most of the 2006 legislation involved the lifting of tariffs or duties on certain petrochemicals, some of which are used in the production of Enogen.

In their FEC filing for that year, Syngenta reported spending $420K of their own money on direct lobbying, and $280K on fees to various lobbying consultants. Two of those firms; Cornerstone Government Affairs and EOP Group, also received fees to lobby on behalf of CropLife America.

It would stand to reason that the sudden increase in Syngenta's legislative lobbying activity on Capitol Hill would have meant that, in the words of one Washington lobbyist, "[Syngenta] either spent more money, found more manpower to lobby, or both."

But, curiously, the company spent less money in 2006 on direct lobbying than in any of the five years previous.

This incongruity raises the question of how Syngenta got more activity for less money spent. Perhaps it got discounts from lobbyists or simply relied more heavily on the influence of politicians that they had come to favor with campaign money during that election year.

In 2006, Syngenta PAC totaled contribution receipts of $175,099

The company's FEC filings for the year show that $9,202 of the PACs money came from "Individual Donors" and the rest from Syngenta's corporate funds.

However, a closer look at the filing details shows that every individual donor who gave to Syngenta PAC that year was an employee of Syngenta. In fact, other than the $5,000 from Astra Zeneca in 2000, no money has ever been donated by anyone other than Syngenta employees or the company itself.

And they did the same in The Senate

Where they contributed to Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) who, like Colin Peterson, was an influential legislative voice in agricultural matters.

Lincoln was a frequent recipient of Syngenta's donations and her PAC "Leadership in the New Century" was a frequent recipient of money from CropLife America, including $7,000 in 2006 alone.

In 2010, Lincoln appeared at an even in Memphis, where she received a check from Syngenta made out as a charitable donation to a local food bank of which she had long been a vocal supporter.

Lincoln was named the incoming Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee in 2009, but despite more large contributions from both Syngenta and CropLife America, she lost her seat in a surprise upset during the 2010 election.

Recently, Lincoln announced that she has taken a position on the board of Entergy, an energy company with a burgeoning financial interest in "Green Energy," that includes ethanol production.

In 2010 Syngenta seeks FDA/USDA approval on Enogen -- and gets it

In last year's elections, Syngenta spent more than $100,000 on direct campaign giving for the first time after restrictions were lifted on corporations. They also renewed their lobbying on bills before Congress, registering activity on almost 40 separate issues up for debate in both the House and Senate as the approval process for Enogen picked up steam.

With Colin Peterson manning the gavel for the House Agricultural Committee and CropLife America very active in most of the Congressional elections throughout "The Corn Belt," Syngenta received FDA approval for Enogen in August but the USDA decided to continue its debate on the enzyme's safety as a food-grade technology.